First Lisburn Presbyterian Church, 49 Market Square South, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, BT28 1AG

First Lisburn Presbyterian Church is a free-standing, double-height stone meeting house dated 1768, enlarged in 1873, with a gable-fronted entrance block added in 1970. It sits within its own grounds fronting onto Market Square, Lisburn, and is rectangular on plan, facing north, with a double-height rear projection. The original architects were John Barclay as projector and architect, and James Fulton as director and overseer of works. Thomas Jackson was involved in later 19th-century work, and the 1970 entrance block was designed by Gordon McKnight.

THE ORIGINAL CHURCH

The church has a pitched natural slate roof with a roll-moulded lead ridge, masonry copings to both gable ends, and metal cylindrical roof vents along the ridge. Cast-iron half-round guttering on iron brackets serves a moulded eaves cornice, with cast-iron downpipes. The side elevations are built in random rubble stone with galleting and cement pointing, with rusticated stone quoins. The rear gable is cement rendered, as is the rear projection.

The two-storey east side elevation is five windows wide, with exposed rubble stone walling, galleted and cement pointed, a moulded stone eaves course returning to the rear gable, and rusticated stone quoins. Window openings at the upper level are round-headed; those at the lower level are three-centred. Both types have redbrick arches, masonry reveals and sills, recessed masonry frames, and weather glazing to stained glass windows. The rear cement-rendered gable has masonry coping and an apex block, with a pair of double-height round-headed window openings flanking the central pulpit bay. The rear gable is abutted by a lower rendered projection with a hipped natural slate roof and a further lean-to slated projection. The five-bay west side elevation is abutted by a row of flat-roofed commercial units fronting onto Market Street, with the upper windows visible and matching the arrangement of the east elevation.

THE 1970 ENTRANCE BLOCK

The entrance block has a hipped natural slate roof, pitched to a slightly advanced central gable. The front gable has a concrete coping and moulded eaves cornice. The side elevations have splayed rubble stone walling below sill level, with the remaining walls built in squared, coursed, fair-faced cement blockwork with fine mortar joints. Below the main roof is a projecting pre-cast concrete frieze.

The front elevation features a slightly advanced central gable with multiple lights arranged in a diamond plan to the upper half, and a triple-arched recessed entrance portico below. The portico is formed in pre-cast concrete with panelled soffits and a pair of supporting concrete columns, providing a recessed entrance with a terrazzo platform and step. There are three pairs of double-leaf hardwood doors with horizontal glazed panels and three etched glass fanlights above. The diamond-plan lights above the portico comprise a series of irregular-sized rectangular openings filled with stained glass. The side elevations of the entrance block have slender window openings at ground floor level with replacement uPVC windows, while the pre-cast concrete frieze incorporates a series of semi-circular openings with plain glazing.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

There has been a Presbyterian congregation in Lisburn since at least 1688. The first meeting house, which cost around £500 to build and stood at the south end of Bow Street, was destroyed in the fire that consumed most of Lisburn in 1707. A replacement meeting house was then built on the present site at a cost of about £400, though the present building was not erected until 1768. Dr Betty, an eminent physician residing at Chapel Hill, raised funds and took a close interest in the construction.

The meeting house is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 and is listed in the Townland Valuation of 1828 to 1840 as a Presbyterian meeting house valued at £30, with dimensions recorded as 66 by 46 by 24 feet, and the Sessions House as 10 by 19 feet 6 inches by 9 feet. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs note that it was well lit with 23 windows and had three fine galleries, capable of accommodating upwards of 800 persons following gallery enlargements carried out within the ten years prior to the Memoirs, at a cost of about £250. By around 1825 it had already been felt necessary to increase the seating space by extending the gallery.

A school house was built behind the church in 1858 to designs by Thomas Jackson, who had also designed the Quaker Meeting House in Railway Street a few years earlier. Griffith's Valuation of 1856 to 1864 lists a Presbyterian meeting house, school and yard valued at £50 for the buildings combined.

In 1873 the tender of Verner and Sons was accepted for alterations that included the conversion of the adjoining Session House into a vestibule, adding four rows of pews to the seating both on the ground floor and in the gallery.

In 1907, during the ministry of John James Carlyle Breakey, many of the stained glass windows were unveiled. A large number commemorate former members of the congregation, and there are also memorial windows to Samuel Musgrave, a local physician, and William Barbour of the Barbour spinning mills. Two large windows on either side of the pulpit were manufactured by Messrs Meyer and Co. of London at a cost of £125 each.

In October 1916 tenders were invited for a new ceiling, repairs and painting, with Messrs Hobart and Heron of Scottish Provident Buildings, Belfast named as architects. The work, including a new pitch pine ceiling, was carried out by Messrs W, J and C Law of Lisburn, replacing a plaster ceiling that had been prone to collapse. At the same time, a gas engine was installed to provide electricity, the pulpit was replaced, terrazzo flooring was laid in the vestibule, and an organ chamber and minister's room were added. The church was reopened in December 1918.

In 1930 and 1935, two further stained glass windows were donated by Mr T M Wilson and Mr R E Barbour respectively, positioned facing each other on the gallery level on either side of the pulpit. Pew seating in the gallery was replaced by tip-up seats in 1940. In 1946 the Reverend Hay presented a communion table to the church, which required the removal of four rows of pews from the centre of the building.

After 1950, many of the buildings that had for most of the church's existence obscured its presence on Market Square were demolished. In 1970 a new church front was added to designs by Gordon McKnight, at a cost of £35,000. The remodelling also provided a new minor hall, cloakrooms and a church office. A new window was installed at this time, blending a cross with a burning bush.

In 1981, following severe damage caused by a bomb attack on the centre of Lisburn, restoration of the church became necessary. Edward Bell was the architect, and James Watson of Belfast restored the windows. A new window, known as the resurrection window, was installed, incorporating pieces of shattered glass that could not otherwise be reused.